Over 5000 years ago, the oldest form of tie and dye, Bandhej, began to surface in areas like Jamnagar and Kutch in Gujarat, and several cities in Rajasthan, like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar, Ajmer, Udaipur, Bhilwara, and Bikaner. Each state and area has a unique design that makes them different. Primarily and traditionally, this craft is done by female artisans. According to some historical evidence, the first Bandhej saree ever was worn by Banabhatta's Harshacharita in a royal wedding. Its early visual representations can be found in the Ajanta Caves, created in the 6th Century. It has also been mentioned in Alexander the Great's texts, which talked about India's beautifully exquisite printed cotton.

'Bandhej' is derived from a Hindi word, 'bandhan', which means tying, and the craft involves tying the cloth and dyeing pieces of it using natural dyes. This art form has fully blended itself into the culture of Rajasthan, making it almost inseparable. 

Being one of the oldest methods of making designs and patterns on a piece of plain fabric, Bandhej print is generally done using natural colours. Each colour used has its significance.

Red is symbolic of marriage, and is believed to provide the bride with an upstanding future and fortune. Saffron is the colour of a yogi, and yellow represents spring and joy. Black and maroon are considered to be the colours of mourning and sorrow.

The Bandhej fabric can be distinguished with the shape of the dots - for instance; there are tear-drop shaped dots. Even elaborate designs like flowers, leaves and trees can be seen sometimes - mostly in nature.

Several people are involved in doing different tasks in the production process, including the artisans. There are various steps in this process, including buying the cloth, bleaching, imprinting, tying, dyeing, and finally, selling.

First, the cloth is bought in bulk from Mumbai, Bangalore and Surat. Different materials are used for different garments. Chiffon, georgette, and art silk are used for sarees, and cotton is used for turbans and dupattas. After the desired cloth is bought, it is cut as per the requirement of the garment.

Secondly, since cotton usually comes in a grey colour, it must be bleached white. The problem faced during this part is maintaining a balance between the amount of bleach used. More bleach means the cloth's whiteness is better, but using a large amount of bleach also shrinks the cloth, making the process slightly tricky. Shrinking of up to 10m is feasible without the cloth's quality being damaged. Next, designs are imprinted on the bleached cloth with blocks using ujala, a non-permanent chemical that is removed after tying. Motifs of animals or birds, bel Buti, rasleela, and geometric shapes are typically used.

In the fourth step, the imprinted clothes are sent to women's homes for the tying process. Bandhej techniques differ mainly in the size of the dots, and the price of tying each cloth depends on the same, along with the number of dots. Moving forward, there are various methods of tying a cloth, all of which have a specific nomenclature. These methods include Barik Bandhej, Rai Bandhej, Khas-khas Bandhej, etc. Each of these requires the artisan to be at a particular skill level. Conventionally, a nakhuna is worn on the finger for tying - it is an iron nail with a pointed edge. 

In the last step, the tied clothes are dyed by men in their households. For this, the cloth is first bleached to remove the marks made during tying, and then it is dyed as per the design. Earlier, only natural dyes like vegetable dyes and tea leaves, but now, chemical-based dyes are more common with this craft. Colours like green, blue, yellow, red, and black are commonly used. Once the cloth has been dyed, it is left to air-dry, and depending on the climate, it can take a minimum of 4-5 hours, and a maximum of 2 days to dry completely.

Patterns like Chandrakala, Shikari, Bavan Baug are created on the fabric depending on the way it was tied.